Can this coaching staff motivate a team?

El Paso Eagle · September 14

We did not seem ready to play against SFA and I don't know what that was today but this team was not motivated. You're still early enough if you could motivate this team and get a win against Wyoming perhaps you could change the fortunes of the rest of season. But as of this point, combine the fact that our defensive coordinator is not good with the fact that we've seen nothing to show that this staff can motivate a team. I am not too optimistic.

Mean Green 93-98 · September 14

Motivation was not the problem.

Greendylan · September 14

I think motivation may be a problem, but it's a little different than you're thinking. For the second year in a row, we have a defense that is just almost nonexistent. I mean, we'll sometimes delude ourselves into thinking that they're making progress when they get an occasional stop or two against a really bad team/injured team or an FCS opponent, but if it's a team with a functional offense (i.e., at least mediocre) then it's pretty much a guaranteed touchdown every drive. If you go back and look at the 15 games we've played in the Morris era, it's pretty shocking how few first half punts we have forced. So, this then puts immense pressure on the offense, which leads to mistakes, which leads to blowout losses. We play a schedule most seasons with 4-5 really bad opponents (like bottom 30 in the nation), and those allow us to get at or near bowl eligibility, but meanwhile we're just slipping further behind the teams that are actually decent.

So, it's probably hard to keep a team motivated when the defense knows they are helpless play after play, drive after drive against half our opponents each season. The offense also likely feels unmotivated when they know that every drive where they don't score essentially means we're going down by 7 more. Hell, how could they stay motivated? As a fan it's hard to stay motivated when it seems like we have a system only built to work against 100+ ranked opponents. Even wins feel meaningless when you know you'll get horribly embarrassed against the next relevant opponent.

Got5onIt · September 14

Motivation cannot equalize lack of talent.

tmjerm · September 14

We took lazy angles, missed tackles, lazy blocks....we were definitely not "locked in" as our social media put on Instagram before later posting our embarrassing scores throughout the rest of the game. I am not saying we would've won but we definitely laid down and did not come close to being the more intense or motivated team.

Edited September 14 by tmjerm

Rudy · September 15

Oh no, they were motivated. Did you not see one of our guys celebrate by doing the Steve Austin bit on the sidelines? He was real motivated......

NM Green · September 15

Look, who on our schedule to come has superb offenses? Because when I look into the future I don’t see any. Tech made me nervous before the game not because of their defense but because they could score more than us. If we need to keep up we’re doomed. If they need to keep up with us we’re in decent shape.

We have almost beat Memphis once or twice and we match up well with them. We’ll get them one of these days. We play them too close to not close the deal one season. UTSA looks beatable. Tulsa and Temple are struggling. Wyoming can’t feel excited with their start and one of their studs got ejected for targeting and will miss the first half next week. Again if we get up on other cats we have a chance to win. It might be 52-48 but we can beat them.

Let’s start with next week by brining the house from tailgate to the Alma Mater. I’m not sunshining it. I just think we have a chance at some wins in the coming weeks.

GMG

3_n_out · September 15

I don’t think it was motivation related. Perhaps after our asses were handed to us in the second quarter, motivation (lack thereof) became a factor. But, to always run up to the LOS to get plays off fast knowing your weak defense, as it relates to the tempo of your offense, will be on the field more. It’s counterproductive.
To me, it was coaching - plain and simple. Maybe a morris read the press clippings too much about Tech struggling the past two games, how his defense stonewalled an FCS opponent. Then, he actually calls a swinging gate BS, going for it on 4th and 7 (and making it), but not going for it on 4th and goal, then ultimately missing the fg. His WRs couldn’t catch and he barely called any run plays until the second half when the best thing to do was to keep the clock running.
Kids weren’t ready to play, and that’s on the coaches.